Let Me Show You

This semester, alongside social media strategies and campaigns, I am taking another public relations course: issues in pr. This class has been far different from any class I’ve ever had, but certainly not in a bad way. On the first day of class the professor said it would be a lot like book club and by now, I can’t imagine she’s wrong. So far we’ve read all the way through one book- Stamped: Racism, Anti-racism and You- and mostly through a second.  While part of our grade in this class is to lead discussions and contribute to them, we also have a few writing assignments, one of which is a book review, which, for the first book, I think is worth sharing: Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You written by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi, is a critical analysis of America’s history through the lens of racist ideals. Reynolds and Kendi’s arguments throughout the book were continuous and often directly stated: (1) this was not your ordinary history book, (2) America was built on racism ...

Last week’s Principles of What I’m Reading blog touched on the Top 15 Social Media Tips from Guy Kawasaki’s “The Art of Social Media” . This week is a different path as the new reading is “Social Media for Strategic Communication” by Karen Freberg- meaning this is the strategy and brand development aspect of social media. So let’s call social media a game of chess- funny because the front cover depicts the social media logos as chess pieces. It is, in fact, a competition all about strategy. A competition between users to gain the most followers and likes, and a competition between platforms for who can gain the most users and daily interaction. Everyone wants to be seen and more importantly- liked. Fortunately for you as a user trying to gain a following, each social media platform has a slightly different demographic, meaning you can find your truest audience and you may dominate on one platform, but not quite as much on another. This is good, it builds loyalty to you across all platf...

  To preface, I am no social media expert, but for anyone starting out, I think these tips could get you somewhere. So without further ado, here are the top 15 social media tips from Guy Kawasaki’s “The Art of Social Media” and what number they show up as in the book: Optimize your profile for 5 seconds (2).   As Kawasaki says, social media is all about snap judgments . So make sure your profile shows in 5 seconds that you are “likable, trustworthy, and competent.” Focus your avatar on your face (3)!  This does not mean like a mug shot. Think of a happy candid, and make sure that the image size is large, meaning it isn’t cropped from a larger photo where your face makes up only 2%. The last thing you want is poor image quality (unprofessional)! Also, make sure your profile image is the same across all platforms so that you are actually recognizable. Craft a mantra (5). I think this one is my personal favorite, and I definitely put it in practice (hint: Let Me Show You). ...

Since being in college, I’ve taken on a whole new view of what the experience is, and I’ve concluded that being a college student is character development . The popular social media platform TikTok has thousands of viral posts about being “the main character,” and “romanticizing your life” all with edgy voice-overs and building music. And I think that by the end of college, I could absolutely curate one of those viral posts that show how much I’ve changed and made myself the main character in my world.  I am now a junior at Ohio Northern University, and I can say with total confidence that I have dramatically changed within these past two years. My freshman year, I was still finding my groove, as most other freshmen are doing. I was independent already, but I was finally independent on my own, living in a space mostly my own, and navigating what I wanted to do next, on my own . At first, I had no clue how in the hell to do that. But then, the first semester passed, and I changed m...

Tomorrow night I will be live tweeting to the newest episode of “Grey’s Anatomy'' airing at 9 p.m. EST. It is hard to believe that this show has 17 seasons! Can you name another TV drama that has lasted that long? Boy have we gone through a roller coaster of emotions with this one. We’ve seen characters die tragically, suddenly, somewhat horrifically, and in heartbreaking ways. We’ve seen actors and their characters come and go. And we’ve watched individuals grow as doctors and as people. Dr. Meredith Grey, the main character of the show, was a legacy doctor in her mother’s shadow. She threw up after treating a patient for the first time and got lost in the hospital! Now she’s an award winning Chief of general surgery, a mother, and a strong leader. This show was born only four years after me. It’s crazy that it is nearly the length of my lifetime! While I only started watching it seven years ago- that is when I was the apparent appropriate age to view the content according t...